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www.4windsbmw.orgMOA # 6 RA # 76
AUGUST MEETING INFOThe 44th Rally of the Four WindsBMW Riders will be held from 12:00Noon, Friday, Aug. 20 through Sun-day morning, Aug 22, 2010 at theRedbank Community Park just northof New Bethlehem, PA. Cost: $35/Person camping.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Vince’s Verities ......................... 1Board Of Directors 2010 ........... 1August Meeting Info ................. 1Publication Info ......................... 2Meeting Schedule 2010 ............ 2August Meeting Pictures .......... 2Ongoing Events ......................... 2Welcome New Club Members .. 3Meeting Minutes – July 17 ...... 46 Cylinders??? ........................... 5European Bike Night ................ 6The Camera ............................... 6For Sale ...................................... 6The Starlight Car Cruise ......... 8North Breakfast Ride ................ 9SYRIA MOTOR CORPS ......... 10East Breakfast Ride ................... 11Safety Bit ................................... 11More Burma Shave! .................. 11The Way We Were .................... 12Map of Rally Location .............. 14Volunteers Needed ................... 14How do I join ............................. 15Directions to the Rally: ........... 15
AAAAAUGUSTUGUSTUGUSTUGUSTUGUST 20102010201020102010BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2010
President – Vince Giannetti412-204-8080
Vice President – DianePears
Treasurer – LarryShockling
Corres. Sec’y – Joann Barr412-881-5897
Rec. Sec’y – PatrickBarrett
Director – John Barr412-881-5897
Director – Jack Bramkamp412-318-2145
VINCE’S VERITIESWhat happened to the summer? The clubrally in August will be very soon upon us.Maggie has done a great job so far and theboard will be meeting at he beginning of Au-gust to go over last minute checklists and de-tails. As usual the Four Winds Rally will be agreat time with a lots of activities, opportuni-ties to ride and renew friendships and kicktires.
The weather for the July picnic was fan-tastic. We had two gourmet chiefs, and thepromised first annual bocce tournament. Ihope we will now continue the tradition ofbocce at the picnic. We gained two new mem-bers at the July Picnic, both of them locallawyers, what a coincidence! The club nowhas 92 members.
As for future events, I am planning to dothe local Ride for Kids that leaves from theCranberry Home Depot at 10:00AM on Au-gust 8th. I will be at Kings Restaurant at 8:00AM in Cranberry if anyone would like to joinme. We are having the annual fall outing atLeo’s and this is the meeting where new offic-ers are nominated. We also hope to vote onthe quorum issue if we have sufficient mem-bers at the meeting. I encourage everyone toattend with volunteering on your mind, as wealways need good board members and offic-ers for the club to thrive.
RALLY!REDBANK
PARK
AUGUST
20-22
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PUBLICATION INFOThe Four Winds BMW Riders
Newsletter is published formembers’ use. Articles’ andpictures’ copyrights are held bytheir authors. Author’s permis-sion should be obtained beforeany form of republication.
Editor: Ralph MeyerDeadline: Articles submitted must
be received by the editor nolater than 6:00 PM on theTuesday after the club meet-ing of the month preceding themonth of publication (e.g., Aug.Meeting/Rally: Aug. 21; Sept.issue deadline: Tues., Aug.24th). Articles/Info rec’d afterdeadline go in next month’snewsletter.
Submission information:E-mail submissions: Send as at-
tachments with “4 Winds News-letter Article” in the e-mail‘Subject’ line to:
<[email protected]>Articles on Disk Media mail to:
Ralph Meyer, Editor4 Winds Newsletter6056 Meadow LaneBakerstown, PA 15007-9720
Submission formats:Articles: Send as plain text with
headings and hdg depth defined,or in Word Processor (e.g., MSWord) format. Save trees: avoidpaper if you can.
Pictures and graphics: Submit inJPEG or TIFF format withclearly marked locations in thearticle.
Long articles may be split betweenissues.
National Club Affiliations: FourWinds BMW Riders is char-tered club #6 of the BMWMOAand chartered club #76 of theBMWRA
Newsletters in color PDF formatare at the Four Winds Site,www.4windsbmw.org . Down-load a free Adobe PDF readerby clicking the ‘Get AdobeReader’ button atwww.adobe.com and followingthe directions thereafter pro-vided.
ONGOING EVENTS
Breakfast Rides, et al.:These rides are free-form. Those at-
tending decide what they want to doand where, if anywhere, they want toride. If you just want to show up inthe car and have breakfast with fel-low motorcyclists, that’s fine too.
COME! EAT! CHAT! RIDE!
Ride Schedule — Month:Sun, Aug 1 — North at King’s, I-79 &
Rt 910/VIP Dr., 10:00 AMSat, Aug 14 — West at Bob Evans, Rt
60 & Campbell’s Run Rd, 9:00 AMSun, Aug 15 — South at King's, 3049
Washington Pike, off Exit 54, I-79,Bridgeville, 10:00 AM
Sat, Aug 28 — East at Dick’s, Rt 22Westbound Side, Monroeville, 9:00A M
If you’re going to a breakfast ride,you might want to notify others:It’s not necessary, but it’d be nice tolet others know you’re going to aparticular Breakfast Ride by puttinga notice on the 4-Winds Site Mes-sage Board’s Breakfast Ride sectionsaying so. That’ll help save a riderfrom discovering too late that no oneelse is going that day. The Break-fast Ride’s URL is: http://www.4windsbmw.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=9 . Be sure toerase your post after the ride if youcan so the board doesn’t get clut-tered.
MEETING SCHEDULE 2010Mark the dates on your calendars,
but remember...All meeting sites are tentative.
Please check the web site andnewsletter for changes and up-dates.
September 18, 2010 12-3 PM —House Party at Leo Stanton’s,Jefferson.
October 16, 2010 12-3 PM — TheHofbrauhous = South Side Works,2705 South Water St, Pittsburgh, PA15203
PRE-MEETING BOARD MEETING
There is still a lot of time left in the ridingseason and I have talked to members who areattending both the Finger Lakes and BlackDiamond Rallies. Autumn is the best of theriding season in my opinion. I world like to doa leaf peeper October ride ending at an Italianrestaurant for lunch or an early dinner. I amopen to suggestions and it even doesn’t haveto be an Italian restaurant. I’m just feeling alot of pressure from Maggie since she told methat the club has a president with an Italianname and we have yet to eat at one good Ital-ian restaurant. Well then let’s combine the twofavorite pastimes of the club, riding and eat-ing. I guess we can even call it the president’sride but I prefer informal rides. In any eventeven though time is passing quickly, there stillis a lot of good riding remaining.
I keep reminding myself that I am notgetting too old to ride but I will get old if Idon’t ride. I am even taking a dirt bike classthis month to brush up on my dirt bike skills.Everybody rides for different reasons but Ifind a common factor is the Zen like experi-ence of being totally present, aware and en-gaged in both the mo-ment and the unfoldingof the immediate envi-ronment. Riding doesconcentrate the mind. Ifit is done properly,there is no time for ru-minating about prob-lems and obligations.Your life depends onyour focus and engage-ment with your imme-diate environment.Riding is natural highand I think we can alluse more natural highs.
RIDE SAFELY,
VINCE
AUGUST MEETING PICTURESfrom the camera of Ron “Reddy-K” Latkovic
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WELCOME NEW CLUB MEMBERSBy Joann Barr, Corresponding Secretary
We welcome 2 new members to our club.Jaime and Andy Glowacki joined the 4 Winds club at our meeting
at the Laurel Highlands Rally. The couple moved to Pittsburgh fromIowa. We first met them at our 2009 rally where they won the grandprize from GSMmotoRent of 2 nights stay and 2 bikes to ride nearGreat Smoky Mountains National Park. They used the prize andenjoyed the adventure in TN. Andy started his BMW experience as akid riding behind his Dad to rallies. Their motorcycles now are a 2001R1150GS and a 1981 Suzuki 450 cruiser. We are looking forward toseeing them at meetings and the 2010 rally. Maybe they will havegood luck again on winning some rally prizes.
JOANN
MEETING PICTURES CONTINUED...Arriving--neat bikes and folks...as usual!
Chef/Prez Vince and Walt checking out the ‘burgers and ‘dogs
Many of the ‘usual suspects’ enjoying the camaraderie andcomversation of the day. For a hot day, they look like a pretty cool
bunch! (Some say it was 90° in the shade!) The ice cream ride afterthe meeting was no doubt VERY well attended!
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP
MEETING MINUTES – 2010 JULY 171.42
- Meeting called to order.- Quorum Issue
- Either vote on it at Leo’s in September or, if the current 50% Quorum is not obtained at Leo’s, we willvote through the mail.
- We will post the edits to the By-Laws on bothe the website and in the Newsletter.- Rally
- Need folks for coffee and registration still.- The Shriner’s Poker Run mentioned, but it was the day after the meeting.- The Rally in the Poconos will be September 17-19.
1.48- Treasurer’s Report
- End of the Month: $11,522- See Larry to sign up for volunteering at Registration at the Rally.
1.50- Guests
- Fred ; Rides an R1150R.- Gary Nelson
- Sponsors a Charity Ride for cancer. It will be on October 3rd and will start in Aspinwall and endin Foxberg (sp?). The ride will be loose: you get directions and ride however fast or slow you want. For detailssee the Newsletter or the Website.
1.55- Walt’s Corner
- Walt is going to work Security at the rally, but he’s not going to be able to until around 1PM on Friday,so he needs someone or multiple someones to help for anything earlier than that.
- People working at registration must make sure to put the armbands on people’s left wrist so they don’thave to come off the throttle to show it to security.
1.58- After the meeting we played Bocce over beneath the tree.- The Ice Cream rides after the meeting were to be led by Ed Syphoon and Princess Di to Zelionople and NewCastle respectively.- 50/50
- Winner: Bob Stuckert; won $32.2.00
- Meeting Adjourned.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, ‘TRICK D. BARRETT, RECORDING SECRETARY
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On the Net...Have you found a neat location on the Internet? Send the URL in with a brief description of what it’s
about to the editor and we’ll post it here for the benefit of your fellow riders...Note: copy or type the underlined link into your browser’s URL textbox and hit ‘Go’ or ‘Enter’ to go there.
Our Four Winds Site, what else??? http://www.4windsbmw.org . And always remember never to forget, you can get this and pastcolor copies of the Newsletter in PDF format there! Check it out if you haven’t already done so.From Kevin Hart - World's fastest Electric Motorcycle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLkRx56C2Vw
From Al Vangura - The new Peraves Kugelmotor Ball Engine: http://kugelmotor.peraves.ch/index_en.htm ; and here's themovie on how it functions: http://kugelmotor.peraves.ch/Bilder/Kugelmotor_engl.wmv
6 CYLINDERS???Check out this URL: 2011 BMW K1600GT First Look -FROM MOTORCYCLEUSA.COM http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/616/7370/Motorcycle-Article/2011-BMW-K1600GT-First-Look.aspx%20?WT.i_e_dcsvid=1173127552
BMW’s 6 cylinder concept bike has appeared on the world stage. News is that a K1600GT is in the offing--I would have thought it wouldhave been a K1600LT to start with, but news is ‘not.’ Having always considered the newer Honda Gold wings with 6 cylinders to be borderingon, if not definitely in, the category of ‘Wretched Excess’ like a few other things I’d rather not name (1 pound hamburgers, Primanti sandwicheswith the fries inside [do they make any other kind??], Big Macs, Screaming Eagles, blown Nitro fitted S&S V-Twins, 5 dip ice cream cones, etc.),I wonder if this new Beemer engine doesn’t squeak into that category. Of course, if it does, knowing the Engineers at Bayerische MoterenWerke, it’s likely to be far more excess than any of the others and smooth as a baby’s bottom (eventually--when the figure out the EFI correctly).Anyway, to whet anyone’s whistle who is interested, here are a few cadged pics:
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FOR SALEPlease note: If you sell your item, please notify the newsletter editor so it can be removed from this list.2005 R1200RT: 28k miles. $11,500. All dealer serviced. New front tire and front brakes. Heated seats & grips. BMW Cruise
Control. BMW Alarm. BMW Tankbag. Extra BWM Accessory outlet wired to battery. Contact Trent Dennison:[email protected]
‘06 K1200S, 10.2k, silver/gray, all factory options. Newly installed Akrapovic Ti/Ti/CF full exh, Evoluzione race intake, dualcompound rear tire with Dynojet runs on each change totaling +12rwhp.Dealer installed clear strobe turn/brake lights, CF trim,panniers w/ liners and tank bag, center stand, June 2012 extended unlimited mi warranty. Dealer maintained w/records. Adultowned, never down,immaculate condition. $13,900/obo, Peter: 724-516-1260(PA)
The Sidecar Rig Al Vangura Engineered: For sale at Bob’s BMW, Jessup, MD. A GREAT rig! For pictures, see p. 10 of the Junenewsletter. Contact Bob’s BMW 866-861-5750 if interested.
EUROPEAN BIKE NIGHT
AT STARLITE CAR CRUISE, ON AUGUST 6TH 2010Lance Hough
Founding President PennDESMOOnce again as president of PennDESMO, Pennsyvlanias official Ducaticlub, I am organizing European Bike Night at Starlite Car Cruise, onAugust 6th 2010. This date was chosen because of availability as wellas not interfering with Mid Ohio races and BMW national rallies, notto mention the Annual Four Winds Rally.
I have done this several years, including the year I was Presidentof Four Winds.
Last year with our local dealer's support we had approximatly80+ Euro bikes including about 25 BMWs. The Harley guys wereactually rather impressed!
This year, I am hoping to get at least that turnout and hope thatagain Four Winds can support and maybe co-sponsor the event.
As well, I was thinking of offering door prizes as well as a plaquecompetiting for various categories.
LANCE
THE CAMERA
WEST BREAKFAST/RIDE
JULY 10, 2010by Walt Halaja
I was going to entitle this report “#1 and #2” because of the posts onthe web site, but had to change it to "The Camera," so read on to findout why!
Well, for the breakfast and ridewe had Dave "The Chief" Manfredo,Dave "2 Spark" McLaughlin, and John "JLR/FJR” Rolin, who is keyto this report for me, Walt Halaja. As you all know many differentthings get discussed during breakfast besides where to ride if any ridewas to be taken. “2 Spark” came the farthest, so I thought maybe itwould be OK to take a Southernly ride if any wanted to do that, andthey all agreed so that was settled! I was thinking of "Point Marion,Pa" as the turn around spot. For some reason, we got to talking aboutPittsburgh bridges and, in particular, the Smithfield St. bridge and howit is the oldest bridge in the city. I said that one day while going homefrom work on my BSA, as I was sitting on Fort Pitt Blvd. waiting toget onto the bridge, that I counted 11 Port authority busses on thebridge at the same time, when the bridge was posted at only 11 tons!
Well I was thinking that this bridge could go for sure with all thatweight because each bus weighs over 11 tons by itself! Of course,nothing happened.
I remember years ago that when the Street cars used the other sideof the bridge, they would never get close to another Street Car andwould leave a good space between them till the other Car would clearthe bridge. I think "JLR/FJR” said he did some reading on that bridgeand said the lowest foundation of the bridge pillars were wood andthat the last time they were checked they were in perfect condition. (Ihope I have that statement/part right. Ha!) Then, 2 Spark chimed inthat he knew where there is a cast Iron bridge in Brownsville, PA.Since we would be heading South and going thru Brownsville, I askedhim if he could take us there, and he said, “Sure.”
This was when this ride got interesting! 2 Spark got us therewithout a hitch, and what a depressed part of Brownsville that waswith all those vacant buildings on part of old Rt. 40. Sure enough,there the bridge was, so we parked to have a look, and I grabbed mycamera and tripod to take a photo for the newsletter. "Ralph likesphotos, so lets keep him happy," I thought. There is a small park onthe river side of the bridge that was in very poor condition with an ironfence running along its boundary with much wild growth on the otherside--high weeds, thorn bushes, and maybe even poison ivy, etc., etc.The park has a pretty steep hill near the bridge and as I set down mycamera in its case, it started to roll like a ball toward the fence. Icouldn't catch it and was going to yell for one of the fellows to catch it,but then I thought the iron fence would stop it. It didn't! And thecamera rolled under the fence into all the weeds where there was also
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a good drop off. It was heading for Dunlap's creek that feeds into theMon river! I thought, “This can't be real,” and the fellows didn't evensee it, so when I yelled to them what had happened, they couldn'tbelieve it either! What are the chances of that camera rolling under theonly part of the fence that it could fit through? Sounds like the"Murphy's Law," huh?
So now the fun began. There was no way I could get over thefence with my size and bad knees and 2 Spark was out too! Anyoneover 75 shouldn't even think of trying anything like that. The Chieftried to get over the fence with a bit of our help along with a laid down55 Gal. drum, but Dave got his leg caught in the fence and we had aheck of a time to get him unstuck and safe back on the good side. Thiswasn't looking good. 2 Spark said he could go home and get an oldcanoe he had, plus a ladder and shovel, etc., etc. Well, I said, “Hold offon that.” Meanwhile John found a large tree branch and started tomake the hole under the fence larger and said he thought he could fitunder the fence. He had an old towel in his bike--and isn’t "alwayscarry an old towel on your bike" good advice? So John took off hisvery good shirt and slid under the fence. He saved the day by finding
the camera, which hadn’t found its way to the creek! So it looks likeI owe John "Big Time" just like I owe a few others in this fine club, likePaul "PW" White!
Here’s John retrieving the lost camera with encouragement from 2Spark
where Ralph was: well he was “in Dodge” this week, well actually notDodge City but in the middle of the State of Kansas for a reunion !Anyway, John said I should buy him a coke the next time I see him! Ithink it will take more than that to say thanks for saving my camera!
The rest of the ride went well; we turned at point Marion, and 2Spark got the Chief and me to Rt. 40 where we all split for home. Thatmade approximately 160 miles for me, and I arrived home at 5 PMwith an 87° readout on my bike computer’s thermometer! We lostabout an hour retrieving that camera! So it turned out to be a good ridewith good friends! And I am still cutting back on riding, "PW"!
WALTBelow are pictures of the historical markers we saw on the ride.
This area is full of historical stuff as you all know.
Whew! Camera’s back! Thanks, John & Guys!I had been wondering where he was--maybe he is "Cutting back on
riding" Ha! "Just kidding, PW” --because that's what I have beentelling him lately I was planning on doing. And you may also ask
Here are the historical markers about the First Cast Iron Bridge in theUS
And at the top of the next page are the historical markers detailingsome of the history of Brownsville--though the town now as mentioned
is sadly dilapidated at the moment, in much earlier days, it was abustling and busy place involved, as you can see from the markers, in
much early riverboat building, among other things.
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In the early days on the Mon, Ohio, and Mississippi, Flatboats andKeelboats built here would be loaded with goods for sale in southerntowns, particularly, at the end of the run, in New Orleans. Once there,the boats that had been rowed and poled down these rivers, could not,of course, return easily upstream, so after their goods were sold, theythemselves were often broken up and their materials sold as lumber forbuilding and so forth. Their owners and crews returned north on footor horseback with the profits from their enterprise.
Steamboats brought an end to the Flatboat-Keelboat era with theirability to travel upstream under steam power, along with their size,which could be many times larger than the humanly/current-powereddownstream-only Flat and Keelboats. Now people could ship goodsboth ways on the river rather than downstream on a boat but upstreamon pack animals and wagons. The development of railroads eventu-ally cut a chunk out of riverboat traffic, being able to haul goods muchmore quickly, but only a chunk, as yet today towboats and barges stillply the Mon, Allegheny, Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri profitably.
EUROPEAN BIKE NIGHT AT
THE STARLIGHT CAR CRUISEFRIDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 6TH, FROM 5:30-9:30 PM (WEATHER PERMIT-
TING). FREE ADMISSION! FOOD, DRINK, AND ICE CREAM VENDORS
AVAILABLE. RIDE YOUR BEEMER/DUCATI/TRIUMPH/KTM/GUZZI/RETO THE NORTHWAY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY PARKING LOT - PERRY
HWY (RTE 19) AND WALLACE RD EXTENDED, WEXFORD.. MOTOR-CYCLE ENTRANCE IS GENERALLY THE FIRST PARKING LOT ENTRANCE ON
THE RIGHT WHEN HEADED WEST OFF RTE 19.
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NORTH BREAKFAST RIDE
7/4/2010As usual, thanks to Ron “Reddy K” Latkovic, Super Bob, the managerat King’s, had the front room waiting for us, and although Ron Kranzwasn’t sure from what he said on the post on our web site that anyonewould show up since it was the Fourth of July (Happy IndependenceDay, USA! - If you haven’t read Tom Jefferson’s Declaration of Inde-pendence, be sure to do so in celebration!), there were eleven of uswho made it and enjoyed the camaraderie, comversation, and cuisine atKing’s VIP drive by-the-gas-station and I-79: John Allen (sporting hisphamous pull-cord-start Honda), Ron “Reddy K” Latkovic on‘Smokey’ (his new R1150RT), Larry Morley on his F650GS, Paul“PW” White on 4 wheels [he said he was heading for Ohio after thebreakfast, maybe accompanied by his new dog, a miniature pinscher?],Frank Beatrous on his KLR, and the rest of us, Joe Dengler, WaltHalaja, John Rolin, Dave Manfredo, Ron Kranz, and I on our assort-ment of Suzies, Yamahas, K-GTs, R1200RTs, etc. We managed to fillKing’s front room quite nicely with much sound and, as always, nofury—except some regarding the cost of Beemerparts.
Riding over was in lovely temperatures, just the right kind of cool,but the day warmed up so it was getting hot by the time we vacatedthe front room to head out to the bikes to kick some more tires,compare GPSs, and discuss other things of motorcycling import. Idon’t know where everyone else went after we broke up. Several of ushad family doings to get to, and I suspect the call of the Bar-B-Quewas ringing in a few ears. Walt, however, said he wanted to pick up
some good fresh corn from a farmer’s market somewhere around EvansCity and was proposing a ride up there on Franklin Road to see whatmight be found in that regard. Five of us said we’d tag along, So Waltled us a merry chase (He opined “SL + 5-10 over”) along 910 to Pearce
Mill Road, up Pearce Mill to the Red Belt, then West on the Red Beltto Franklin Road and thence North to Evans City. I hadn’t noticed it,but there was one fellow selling corn etc. along Franklin Road, butWalt had said he thought he remembered a market west on 528 toward
Zelie, so when we got to EC we did a left to head that direction. Nojoy there, however. We got to Zelie without even a whiff of a farmmarket, so pulled into a side street, discussed the situation, and headedback to Evans City with the intention of heading East out of ECtoward Butler in hopes of finding an open farm market with cornthereby. We got through Evans City, and got as far as Rask Cyclewhere Walt pulled us off into Rask’s parking lot as we hadn’t yet seenhide nor hair of a farm market. He decided to turn around, head backand do Franklin Road back south to the fellow we’d passed was thatWAS selling corn. At least that seemed the best sure bet to get somegood ears. Being 8 or 10 miles from Meridian Road and not needingany corn (Rosemary and I had got some the day before at our localHarvest Valley FM),, I decided to keep heading East to take MeridianSouth toward Valencia, the Red Belt, and home. Joe said he’d go withme, while Dave and John said they’d head back west and south withWalt to the fellow selling corn. So we split up at Rask’s.
After the other 3 fellows left, Joe and I, to stave off dehydration(did I mention it was HOT???), decided to wait a bit, locate our water
THANKS TO RON “REDDY K” LATKOVIC FOR THE
PHOTOS!
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bottles and get a nice drink, as riding by then had become somewhatlike heading into blast furnace’s exhaust. When well watered, weheaded on East ...and wouldn’t you know! Joe and I hadn’t gone morethan 4 or 5 miles and there, lo and behold, on our side of the road, wasa big farm market sign saying “Open” and advertising veggies and justpicked fresh corn! Ah well. Such is the way the old cookie crumbles.We hoped Walt was able to get some good corn anyway, after having toretrace a good number of the miles we’d come up Franklin Road to getback to the guy selling it there. In any event, Joe and I got to Meridianand took it south to Valencia Road, crossed 228, hung a left onto RidgeRoad and took that to the Red Belt. We both headed East, with Joetaking Rte 8 south when we got there, and me heading on throughBakerstown to home. Walt led a nice ride on a very enjoyable day andwe hope his ride was topped off by finding some great corn. It was amost enjoyable way to start off the Fourth!
RALPH
SYRIA MOTOR CORPSPOKER RUN
SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2010by Walt Halaja
You might hear some say I don't care to do poker runs or any of thosetypes of runs! Well to tell the truth I'm not that crazy about themeither, but I do them for several reasons: for example, if a member ofour club is involved in a ride--and Alex Walters was on this one, as wellas our Ed Syphan who helped Alex lay out this course. Anotherexample could be that of a charity you would be riding for--you knowwhat I mean. This is the 3rd year I have done this ride and this one wasdifferent--"Way different"--so let me explain. I was talking with Ed atthe club meeting on Sat. and he mentioned to Paul "PW" White and methat maybe we would like to ride with him and Alex to set up thecourse for turn markings for this ride, and if so, to be there at theShriners' Syria Mosque at 9 AM. So PW and I decided Sat. nite that'swhat we would do. We arrived in plenty of time to have coffee anddonuts if we wanted them.
When Ed arrived it wasn't long 'till Alex, Ed, PW, a Harley riderand myself took off to ride the course in order to get it ready for themain group of riders. Alex and ED had a can each of high Viz paint andat every turn one would get off his bike and spray the direction on theroad of which way to go. We would do our 4 way flashers to give them
some cover while Alex and Ed were working like clock work with thelead and rotation of our order always changing. Let me tell you, this
was a blast! I got behind Alex when we were doing Rt. 528 north & itwas like being at "Track Day" on the road, or "Interstate speed" on the
back roads, or a very "Spirited ride;" why Alex even had me thinking of"Heaven" at times and I was totally focused! My, My, what a blastcompared to the old group riding. I told Alex and Ed that this is theway I would like to do this ride if possible next year as it was perhapsthe most "Spirited Ride" I've done since I did track day 3 years ago.OK, I know for some this may be a no-no ride, but for me it was abreath of fresh air from the Ho Hum "pack type riding". Next weekI'm planning to do the "Thunder Run." Will it be anything like thisride? NO! Why am I doing it then? Well because Lee Marks ofEuropean Cycles is part of it and he is our dealer. I would hope thatyou will back him if you can; and besides, it's a Pittsburgh thing "ThePittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix" which supports the Autism Society ofPGH. and the Allegheny Valley School!
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PW and I headed for home as the main part of the group was justpulling in from the ride. It was already 90 Degrees and all went welltill we passed the 31st street bridge on Rt. 28 inbound where PW'sEasy-Pass transponder fell of the bike. We pulled over into a lot andby the time we got to it, it had been run over a number of times. PWpicked up the pieces and while walking back to the bikes Ron "ReddyK." Latkovic pulled in as he was just driving by and saw us. He wasgoing home from a hospital visit with his best friend, John, whosewife Joann will have one of her feet amputated tomorrow, so he felt heneeded to be with them instead of doing the poker run. So my prayerfor John and his wife Joann would be for a good and speedy recovery.One more thing Reddy K. said, something made him turn left off the40th Street bridge instead of right. He said he wanted to pass by hisold church "St. Nicholas" which is an historic landmark now. If itwasn't for that we wouldn't have seen him. (divine intervention???)
WALT
EAST BREAKFAST RIDE
6/26/2010by Sonny Robison
We had a fair showing yesterday at Dick’s restaurant on Rte 22 for theBreakfast. It was hot and lots of Harleys showed up: the place wasstuffed with them.
The list of our folks attending included Myself, John Barr, AdrianMarini, Dave Manfredo and Peter from Greensburgh - though I don’trecall his last name.
I was encouraged to lead a short trip, but I’m still not in such greatphysical shape enough to do much in that category, nonetheless I tookthem on some back roads over past Latrobe, etc. — found Rte 130toward Stahlstown closed for construction, so went down Rte 981 toMount Pleasant and Rte 31. There I said I was returning home via 31and the ride they were wanting was in the opposite direction. As Iwent ahead on my way, however, most followed me, so I went on 31then via back roads into New Stanton and followed the road thatparallels the turnpike back to Rte 30, then I headed through Manorback to Rte 22 and home (for me). Everyone else had peeled off enroute. So that was about it.
By the time I got home my neck and shoulders felt as though I hadtaken a clubbing. This was my second outing of the year, but theriding was not so bad for me. I forgot to take my camera, etc. — thusno picture of the group.
That about wraps it up.— See Ya’ll later - Bye!
SONNY
SAFETY BITATGATT = "All the Gear all the time." Motorcycle accidents canhappen (and some do!) within 100 yards of home. We've even heardof some (a fallover, for example) happening in one's own driveway.Bang your head on something hard coming off a motorcycle and if youweren't wearing a helmet, you're gonna wish you did--if you're stillalive to wish anything! That's a good reason to remember and followthe good old suggestion: "All the gear, all the time!"
MORE BURMA SHAVE!
AT INTERSECTIONSLOOK EACH WAYA HARP SOUNDS NICEBUT IT'S HARD TO PLAYBurma Shave
BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEELEYES ON THE ROADTHAT'S THE SKILLFULDRIVER'S CODEBurma Shave
THE ONE WHO DRIVESWHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKINGDEPENDS ON YOUTO DO HIS THINKINGBurma Shave
CAR IN DITCHDRIVER IN TREETHE MOON WAS FULLAND SO WAS HE.Burma Shave
And my all time favorite:PASSING SCHOOL ZONETAKE IT SLOWLET OUR LITTLESHAVERS GROWBurma Shave
Do these bring back any old memories? If not,you're merely a child. If they do - then you're oldas dirt.
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THE WAY WE WEREScanned in by Walt Halaja
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MAP OF RALLY LOCATION
VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDThere are still a number of spots open at the rally where volunteers are needed. Please check out the 4 Winds web site “Rally” where there isa list that Margaret Weaver has kindly created that indicates all the things that need to be done to make the rally a fine success. Please check itout and choose the sort of activity you’d like to participate in and let Maggie know. The more volunteers who have thrown their hats in the ringbefore the rally, the less hassle and worry it is to be sure everything is covered that needs to be come the rally. Thanks to all who have or willbe volunteering!
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Four Winds BMW Ridersc/o Ralph Meyer, Editor6056 Meadow LaneBakerstown, PA 15007-9720
DIRECTIONS TO THE RALLY:August 20, 12:00 PM through August 22 at Redbank Community Park,
New Bethlehem, PA. Rally cost: $35 includes camping, Camper hookupextra; Day Pass (without Saturday Pig Roast) $15, Pig Roast $10 if onDay Pass.
From U.S. East: Take I-80 West to the Brookville/Rte 36 Exit, Exit # 78.Turn South (Left) out of the Exit onto Rte36. Go straight through thestoplight by the Sheetz at Rte 322 and continue South onto Rte 28eventually through the little town of Hawthorn. Past Hawthorn look for4th Avenue on your right (there will be a BMW sign on the left pointingto it) about 17.3 miles from I-80 exit # 78. Turn Right into 4th Avenueto the park and Rally.
From U.S. West: Take I-80 East to the Brookville/Rte 36 Exit, Exit # 78.Turn South (Right) out of the Exit onto Rte36. Go straight through thestoplight by the Sheetz at Rte 322 and continue South onto Rte 28eventually through the little town of Hawthorn. Past Hawthorn look for4th Avenue on your right (there will be a BMW sign on the left pointingto it) about 17.3 miles from I-80 exit # 78. Turn Right into 4th Avenueto the park and Rally.
From Pittsburgh: Take Rte 28 (Allegheny Expressway) North. ContinueNorth on Rte 28 through New Bethlehem. About 2.4 miles after theRtes 66 & 28 jct. stoplight in New Bethlehem, turn Left into 4th Avenueto the park and Rally. A BMW rally sign will be on your right acrossfrom 4th Avenue.
Rally GPS Location: N41.01437 W79.29241
HOW DO I JOIN
FOUR WINDS BMWRIDERS?
To join, come to a meeting and introduceyourself. Meetings are listed here in theNewsletter and in the schedule of eventson the Web Site, www.4windsbmw.org.
Membership dues are $15 per year for pri-mary membership, and $7.50 per year forassociate members residing in the samehousehold as a primary member.
